Ryley Scott

He was thrilled that she had opened the door to at least him. He'd been there with several others on countless occasions and left fruitless but today there was hope although all he could see was the wrinkled face of the old lady through the little space of the door she had opened.

"If you're here because of Ryley, you might as well leave, Detective. There's nothing you're going to get out of me," she began frankly and he sighed heavily putting his hands to his lips.

"In what way should I explain the situation to you, Mrs. Quenin? A doctor was murdered in his garage and the closest suspect is your niece, Ryley Scott. Our system has little to nothing when it comes to Ryley's background and that is why we keep on coming here. We need answers. For instance, explain to me why your niece sleeps on the floor covering herself tightly with blankets while she has a bed?"

"Detective Nova. All you need to know about Ryley's past is in Ohio. That's where she lived with her parents until my sister was murdered. North Canton is the town in which they lived. Just two hours drive away from here," she tried to shut the door but he put his hands in the way.

"Wait, Mrs. Quenin. Ryley's mother was your sister, right?"

"Yes."

"Ryley's mother was murdered?"

"Yes. November 2003. It was all over the papers in North Canton. How the fuck are you a detective?" the old woman used a curse word on him.

"Who killed her?"

"Enough with the questions, young man. Some scars are meant to remain untouched. Don't bring back memories that might harm my Ryley's life," she shut the door before he could ask any further questions. He walked out making no attempt to knock because she wasn't going to open it. Time had taught him that.

Ryley Scott was a whole mystery on her own. The German lady who lived in the US all her life. A biologist by profession and pretty as the word itself. He sometimes wondered why she wasn't a model instead. His path would have never crossed with hers if not for the murder of Doctor Derrick Anderson, her ex-husband. All the facts were pointed out to her. The woman divorced her husband and ten days later he was found dead in his garage. There was a note on him that read, 'You should have loved me more.' Ryley seemed too innocent for murder but then once again her past was locked. No one knew her personally. Her social circle was extremely limited. She was more of a walking dead when it came to what others knew about her.

She hardly spoke of her parents and the only family member she contacted was her aunt, Mrs. Quenin, but now there Nova was, finding out something really shocking. Ryley's mother was murdered but by who? Nova received a call immediately. It was Richie, his assistant in the case of Doctor Anderson.

"Anything new?"

"Ryley didn't live all her life with her aunt as we suspected. She lived in North Canton, Ohio but what surprises me the most is their reason for leaving Ohio."

"What was it?"

"Ryley's mother was murdered and I'm sure that's why they left there."

"Interesting," Richie replied from the other side of the line. His calmness had prevailed over his shock as always and Nova hated that fact about Richie day-in day-out.

"I'm heading to North Canton right now. I'm going to unveil the skeletons of Ryley Scott."

...

The ride to North Canton seemed longer to Nova. There were so many questions in mind about the mysterious Ryley. All those that knew her from work had something good to say about her but they also added that she was a victim of physical abuse since she was constantly beaten by her husband. That was the main cause of the divorce since Ryley lost her two-month pregnancy after being beaten by Derrick. She refused to report to the authorities. She hated everything that had to do with the Police or maybe she refused the Police for her own personal reasons.

He needed information but getting into North Canton he noticed it was going to be a bit difficult to get what he wanted. He didn't even know the house they lived in. All he knew was North Canton, the town where almost all the residents owned their own houses. Nature had given the town a wonderful green touch and all the houses were painted white. There were several parks in the town but nothing about the place called for information. He needed information that dated back to 2003 specifically November. Then he remembered Mrs. Quenin's words, 'It was all over the papers in North Canton.' Where could he get newspapers that dated to that time? News from about twenty years ago. He thought for a while then it clicked, "The library!"

...

He quickly asked for directions to what seemed like the only library in town. The people of North Canton were not as hospitable as he thought but he still found his way to the library. It was vast looking like an ancient castle that had been remodeled. Just by looking at it, one could tell that it was very old. He climbed the stairs that led to the library. "We're closed!" this thick tall man obviously the security man on duty said in his masculine deep voice. Nova checked his watch. It was 5:50pm about ten minutes more but from the looks of it this man was not going to let him enter. He took out his identity card and pointed it out to the man, "Detective Ethan Nova, I'm here to look for information on..."

"I'm not interested, Detective. You should learn how to work with time. I'm sure that is one of the first things you were taught in school."

"It was a two-hour drive here for crying out loud. I need to get into the library ASAP!"

"Don't let me drive you out like I do to the kids," he moved a bit closer to Nova and his breasts began to make what Nova referred to as 'weird movements' so evident in his tight uniform. Nova moved backward in case a fist was to move through the air. He didn't look like someone willing to match up to the man in front of him. He was almost the same height as the guard but way thinner.

"Let him in, Tom. He'll be the last person I'll serve today," it was the librarian, obviously, but this one was younger. Way too young. She had the same set of dark-blue eyes as Ryley but the round glasses portrayed her eyes even more. There was this smile that surely had a way to warm the hearts of all those who saw it. No wonder the guard (Tom) couldn't resist her offer. He turned back to Nova. "Thank your stars."

"Welcome to the North Canton Library," she said with a smile as Nova walked in. The place was a dull orange shade which complimented the wooden shelfs that had been horizontally arranged. The lights in the library looked like ones used before World War II and it was aesthetically pleasing. "What may I do for you?"

He turned to her. "Miss"

"Call me Sydney."

"Sydney, I need to go through some newspapers."

"Do you have anything in particular you need to see, detective?"

"I'm in search of something a little bit old."

"How old?"

"November 2003," she paused after he had spoken and her smile dulled. "What did you say your name was?"

"Detective Nova." she waited for a while studying him from top to toe. His dark low cut and portrayed pink lips. He continued to smile for reasons she didn't know. Her smile returned.

"Follow me."

The librarian led Nova to a quite dark room. The only source of light was dim. The room seemed unattended to. It was stocked with only newspapers ranging from the early 90's to current-day magazines.

"2003 November, right?"

"Yes,'' Nova replied. He moved through the long shelves with her looking for the year 2003 and after some seconds they found the shelf. It seemed to have the most papers as compared to other years in the early 2000's.

"Unlucky you, detective. The last person to have used this shelf mixed the newspapers of the last three months of November," she picked it all up and placed it on the desk. They were dusty.

"I'm sorry about the dust. It's been a while since someone came for information from that long. It's been exactly nineteen years now,'' Nova moved to the desk that had about a hundred newspapers on it.

"I can tell. Thanks, Sydney."

"I'm always at your service,'' she replied standing far behind the detective to give him the space needed. Nova began to look through the papers. They were mixed, ranging from the birthday party of Derby Night in December 2003 who was currently a renowned musician to the marriage of Kara Boston in the same month, an actress that Nova didn't know had once resided in North Canton.

The newly created make-up industry of the Nights was also mentioned in October 2003 then the new school built in North Canton in October but then his eyes flashed the image of a woman. Her picture had occupied an entire page of the newspapers on December 6th. She had dark straight hair and orange-painted lips that dimmed her eyes. She had the same eyes as both Ryley and Sydney and frankly Sydney looked like a younger version of her. He turned to her and then back to the woman in the papers. The only thing that had been written under was her name, Ryan Scott.

"She's a Scott!" he exclaimed turning to Sydney. The librarian was surprised.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Actually, no," he continued to search putting the picture of the woman aside. Sydney walked over and picked up the newspaper. She smiled for a while before taking off her glasses. Nova continued to search.

''She was a beautiful woman. Dad said I grew to be like her. If only I saw her more." Nova found the next newspaper very soon. The picture of the woman was there once again but this one was relating to her burial. It was from the 8th of December, 2003. 

Burial of Mrs. Ryan Scott (15th February, 1965- 30th November, 2003) 

Age: 38 years

Spouse: Mr. Syd Scott

Children: Ryley Scott and Sydney Scott.

Sibling: Velma Quenin

That was when the words of Sydney sank into Nova's head. He re-read the part that stated children and then turned sharply to her.

"You are Ryley's sister?" the librarian nodded her head gently. Why did everything have to evolve around Ryley? He turned to the librarian again.

"What about my family are you in search of?" it was Sydney's turn to ask.

"Anything that would help me understand your sister more," she smiled lightly.

"Then coming to North Canton won't help you in any way. There's nothing about Ryley you'd find here. I don't even remember the last time I saw her but what has she done this time?"

"What do you mean by what has she done this time?"

"Dad always referred to Ryley as the troublemaker of the family. She was responsible for the fire that burnt Dad's farm and killed some of his horses. She was lively but Ryley was good. The little memories I have of her make me know that," Nova stood to face Sydney. He was learning more about Ryley than he anticipated.

"Your sister's ex-husband was found dead ten days after his divorce and Ryley is the top-most suspect."

"Ryley got married?" Nova was shocked by Sydney's question.

"When was the last time you saw or heard anything about your sister?'' Sydney pulled out a newspaper from the lot on the table in front of Nova. "Two weeks after this happened," She placed it right in the hands of Nova. It was on the front paper of 1st December 2003.

'Mrs. Ryan Scott aged 38, wife of Mr. Syd Scott; an influential businessman, was shot to death by her 15-year-old daughter, Ryley Scott.'